Sunday, September 9, 2012

Meeting Mongs and Thrifting In Singapore

This post is long overdue but when I was in Singapore, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Mongs, who is the author of the very cool blog, My Thrifty Closet. I was really excited because I have never called someone I didn't know out of the blue to arrange to go out, thrifting no less! It was kind of like a blind date, only with less tension and more fun!

She wore an adorable outfit at our meeting - doesn't she just rock of retro? Here, Mongs picked up that striped tank top next to her. We went to the MINDS Thrift Store and if you can see in the picture, there is a person with a lime green shirt on. The funds go directly to support the people in these shirts, they are with disabilities like Downs Syndrome and they work as staff at these stores. I was told this by the manager and she said there were four MINDS branches in Singapore. I later went to another branch in Redhill (this one was in Queenstown) and they are all very clean, well sorted, and in air conditioned shops. So if you are ever in Singapore, look it up!

The great thing about thrift stores in Singapore are the sizes of clothes. They are more appropriate to Asian fitting and I had no trouble finding a lot of pieces I liked. The prices were reasonable, I picked up a white G2000 (local brand equivalent to Banana Republic) wool sweater for SG$4.00 (about the same in US dollars at that time of conversion) There was a grey skirt that had an interesting detail on it, so I bought it - for SG$1.00!

I saw a pair of mint Prada shoes for $80 but it was not in my size. C'est la vie!

Later, Mongs took me to a huge thrift store which is called Hi Thrift and this was a really interesting place. It was situated next to a huge badminton indoor hall and everything was in chaos. There were tons and tons of stuff ranging from electronics to furniture. You had to dig through stuff to find your size. The price for all pieces of clothing was SG$2.00 and if you buy a lot, you get a discount. The proceeds go to ex-drug addicts to help them re-establish their lives again.

I wanted a Chinese Cheong Sam but as it is worn for more formal events, I did not want to buy a new one so I was thrilled to find this one for SG$1.00.

A white lace dress from Hi Thrift

I showed this to my mother and she was like "What on earth??" I kind of thought that too, after I had bought it but it was so different, so thick, like upholstery fabric. It was only SG$1.00 anyway so if I get too many weird looks on the street, I will donate it. That is the beauty of thrifting because I try new styles I would not normally wear because of the money spent and regretted later.

I really enjoyed myself at the second store, even though I get impatient when things are not well arranged. I was really surprised to see American brands like Ann Taylor and Tory Burch. My find of the day was a pair of Tory Burch sequined flats for $2.00 but they were on the small side. Did I care? No, I was just blinded by the fact that they were $2 and TORY BURCH. I carried these shoes all the way home to America with me and wore them once. They hurt like hell because they were too tight so now I have to donate them to the thrift store.

Sadly, we only had about 3 hours together. Mongs is as sweet as she is in person, like her blog. I planned on going back to meet with her again but did not get the chance during the second trip to Singapore. It is great how blogging opens up friendships across borders and we connected so quickly because we both shared a passion for loving thrift stores and being crafty. Hope to meet you again someday, Mongs! God bless you and your family!

About Me

I enjoy all forms of crafts, from quilting to furniture making. It is exciting to take something apart to see how it was constructed. Most of the time I am not very successful in putting them back together but on the times I do, the learning is so fun! I am a mother of two children, married to an Australian. We are currently transplanted in the USA, having lived in Singapore, Australia, Bahrain and Tunisia. I am a Malaysian. This blog is a little record of fashion, thrifting, crafting, furniture - a bit of everything.